3 awesome new titles from Unicorn Press have landed: STANDING ON Z by Stuart Dischell, SELF-PORTRAIT IN DYSTOPIAN LANDSCAPE by Stephen Lackaye, and CREEKS OF THE UPPER SOUTH by Amy Wright & William Wright (co published by Jacar Press). All of these incredible books are available at spdbooks.org . . . . . . #unicornpress #bookstagram #book #books #bookworm #booklover #poetry #poetrycommunity #poet #poets #poetsofinstagram #reads #reading #smallpressdistribution (at Small Press Distribution)
He always arrived by bike, and he sat in one particular seat that I came to know as “that guy’s spot.” He carried peculiar tools and odd accruements of the literary sort. Some days, I’d watch him as he spooled thread between his teeth before looping it through a needle.
Then, he would stitch pages together.
One day, I finally asked “that guy” to explain his high strangeness, to appease my interest in his erudite manner: He told me his name was Andrew Saulters, and that he was making books.
Not just any books, he pointed out. Andrew is an apprentice at Unicorn Press, a small, primarily poetry press located in Greensboro’s Glenwood Books. Unicorn Press, established in 1966 by Al Brilliant and his late wife, Teo Savory, isn’t just a small press publishing hand bound collections of poetry. The press is a force -- a legend -- something spectacular in America’s literary history.
I didn’t explore Unicorn Press until the release of Terry Kennedy’s collection, New River Breakdown, which renewed my personal interest in poetry. Kennedy’s collection is soulful and divine. In an ode to his graceful prose, Andrew solicited local artists to design unique covers for the collection, thus honoring Unicorn’s bequest of fostering creative community.
Glenwood Books:
Andrew suggested that I speak to Al Brilliant if I desired to learn more about Unicorn Press. I admit that I was intrigued and intimidated by the idea. Al is a legacy. I am not a very good poet.
I entered Glenwood Books on a cold, midwinter day not knowing what to expect.
There are moments one intuitively understands when a cultural endowment appears in sight. I shook inside as Al highlighted his life’s work. My soul recognized that I was in the company of something special.
I shook inside, I tell you.
As Al shared personal stories intimately tied with Unicorn’s history, I learned about one of Thich Nhat Hanh’s early visits to the United States, courtesy of Unicorn. (The press published four of Nhat Hanh’s poetry collections, plus a novel in their journal). Cry of Vietnam was published with support from a National Endowment for the Arts grant. Unicorn was a early recipient of the program.
Al also shared about Philip Levine’s work. The press published 5 Detroits, which included the poem, “They Feed They Lion.” That poem would one day bring Andrew into Al’s world. Click the audio above to hear that story.
I heard Al’s stories about Philip Levine just weeks before Levine passed away (Feb 14, 2015). I learned that Al met Phil in Santa Barbara during Thich Nhat Hanh’s poetry reading. With the Vietnam war raging, and with many of the white, middle class audience having never encountered a real Vietnamese, much less one who was a monk donned in an orange robe and with a shaved head, Phil turned to Al and said, “How can we kill people with such beautiful language?” How could we so easily dehumanize a civilization that produced such poetry from someone like Nhat Hanh?
Phil served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 2010-2011.
Unicorn Press was instrumental in raising generations of poets who would grow up to become literary giants. The press engaged writers who mirrored its mission of spiritual, political, and civic engagement.
Producing this podcast challenged me in several ways. Every story Al shared shimmered with so much historical anecdotes that I lamented having to put any of it aside. Al’s marriage to Teo is an episode into itself. He was 19 years old when he met her; she was much older, not Jewish, five times divorced. They established Unicorn Press together, and the press is a testament to their relationship as well as their commitment to carving out powerful literary space in American society.
Al -- a former resident of Gotham Books, a writer, a book maker -- turns the press over to Mr. Andrew Saulters in January of 2016. The fellow on the bike takes flight. The legacy will continue.
Soundtrack: Because Al and Andrew sew books, I honored that endeavor by composing original music for this podcast.
